Computer aided drafting (CAD) systems allow engineers to design three dimensional geometric models. These systems contain a wide range of tools that assist with building models from scratch. Included in these tools is the ability to simulate the movement of virtual components along a virtual path in a virtual world with as much realism as the physical components move along a physical path in a physical world. In these simulations, algorithms often calculate collision detection to determine when at least two given solids will impact and where those impact points are. Dynamic collision detection on exact models is becoming more and more relevant in CAx environments. A typical example is the toolpath checking feature in machining applications with numerous linear segments.
What is needed is a method providing a fast and accurate method for detecting collisions along linear segments to lead to significant improvements in the overall performance and reliability.